Popforward: Ólöf Arnalds

While Icelandic singer/songwriter Ólöf Arnalds is not new to the folk scene, her second album, “Innundir skinni”, was the first to feature tracks in English. And on new single “Surrender”, she enlisted no one else but the Björk to provide her wondrous trademark yelps as background vocals. Ólöf has a clear, luring voice that demands attention, and her ukulele arrangement makes the acoustic track all the more eerily beautiful. The video, shot in Iceland’s National Park, is as deceptively simple as it is arresting. It managed to be strangely sensual and creepy at the same time. Quality cold-weather music, from ladies who certainly know it!*